


Time

by Eggling



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Season 6B, inter-dimensional eldritch abominations, you know. the usual stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-09
Updated: 2017-03-09
Packaged: 2018-10-01 14:16:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10191809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eggling/pseuds/Eggling
Summary: One of Two and Jamie's adventures goes horribly wrong.





	

It wasn’t meant to go like this, the Doctor thought to himself despairingly. It was meant to end with the menace defeated, the people of this cold, remote little space station saved and ecstatic and forever grateful, he and Jamie heading back towards the stars. It wasn’t meant to end with a desperate escape attempt, almost certainly doomed to failure, with that sinking feeling that told him that Jamie could be dying, could be dead already, that he was meant to be there when it happened. It wasn’t meant to end with him looking up in horror at the massive, dark, slimy, dripping _thing_ that had taken up residence in the satellite. And yet there he was.

“You have failed, Doctor.” The voice of the thing – an eleven-dimensional abomination, never meant to exist in their universe – did not issue from any particular point on its body, instead seeming to echo around the room and inside his head. “This world will be destroyed.”

“It’s people won’t be, though,” the Doctor pointed out, fighting to keep his voice even, to hide his growing panic. “They’re evacuating, you know. Their home will be destroyed, but they’ll have their lives. And -” his voice dropped, becoming quieter, more dangerous. “I will stop you.”

There was no reply for a long moment, time dragging itself past like a wounded animal. Then a great, splintering, cracking, roaring sound thundered through the room. The Doctor looked around in alarm, wondering if he had miscalculated, if the space station was breaking up already. With yet another surge of terror, he realised that the creature was laughing.

“Oh, I know where your little friends are, Doctor.” It seemed to spit out his name as if in disgust. “I can feel them stumbling around blindly.” Had the creature been anything remotely human – or Gallifreyan, for that matter – he swore it would have tilted its head. “Thank you. You’ve put them just where I wanted them.”

“What?” The Doctor looked up at the creature sharply. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, Doctor, I thought you were clever.” It paused, seeming to savour the hold it had over him, the power to tell him exactly what he had missed. “I can feel them all, you know. All that flesh, their messy, disgusting, bloody thoughts. If only you could feel them too. It would horrify you. Wiping them out will be nothing but a blessing for this world.”

“Whatever you’ve seen, the people that live here don’t deserve to die!” the Doctor exclaimed.

“Oh, but it’s not just them.” With a great, painful whine of ripping universes, the thing chuckled to itself. “It’s everyone. Even your little friend.”

“Jamie?” At this, the Doctor’s planning and calculating and hoping all stopped dead. “He’s not like that. I know he isn’t.”

“Isn’t he? I’d show you, if I could. But you are victim to it yourself. A pity. You had such potential. I could have kept you as a pet. But I will have to end you too.” It seemed to breathe out, a faint sigh echoing through the satellite.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

“I felt something, tell me!”

“The life here is so easily led.” Its voice was smug, but playfully so, as if it had done nothing more than win a game of chess. Perhaps, the Doctor thought, from its point of view, it had. “Always looking for a scapegoat. And why pass up the opportunity when I have a perfectly suitable candidate right here? I simply convinced them that everything in their lives – everything bad that ever happened to them – was because of you.” Before the Doctor could open his mouth in protest, it continued. “Even your precious little friend. Oh, yes, I know what will hurt you most. The belief of the people here doesn’t matter to you, does it? Not in the end. But his loss of faith will break you. Odd, don’t you think?”

The Doctor did not bother to reply, dashing from the room even as he felt its cruel laughter behind him. He sprinted through the space station, pushing doors open and hearing them slammed closed behind him. He had to find Jamie. The creature’s words meant that he was still alive, somewhere on the station. He did not even consider that it was right, that Jamie might have really fallen prey to its influence. To lose Jamie, for Jamie to forget himself in that way… it was unthinkable. He could not let himself believe it. They would get out. He repeated it to himself over and over again, like a mantra. They would get out and they would send the creature back to where it came from and Jamie would be fine.

Half lost and barely focusing on where he was going, he was completely unprepared for the large, warm _something_ that he crashed into in one of the rooms, and he fell to the floor with a cry of pain. Looking up, he saw to his delight that it was Jamie standing over him, arms crossed, frowning.

“Jamie!” he exclaimed, reaching out towards him. “I was so worried, I thought – Jamie?”

“You,” was all Jamie said, his voice an eerie mix of fury and utter lack of emotion. It was then that the Doctor knew something was terribly wrong. Jamie should have been at his side by now, half wrapped around him in affection and apology and worry. Jamie would not stand there glaring down at him, not now. Not anymore, regardless of what he had done – and the Doctor was confident he had done nothing but try to save lives. Jamie would want to make sure he was alright, then move on to save the people on the space station. This was not the person he had come to find, the person he -

“Get up.” Jamie’s voice was shaking with anger now, the calm expression on his face giving way to pure hatred. The Doctor obeyed, pushing himself to his feet, raising his hands ever so slightly as if in surrender.

“It’s quite alright, Jamie,” he tried tentatively. “I know what’s happening. It’s not your fault. It made you do this, didn’t it? But you’re strong, I know you are. You can break its hold.”

To his horror, Jamie reached to his belt and pulled out his knife, whipping it up to the Doctor’s throat in one fluid motion. A flash of a memory crossed the Doctor’s mind – another knife at his throat, another battle, Jamie younger and terrified and almost convinced that he was about to die. Himself, all those years ago, unhurt by the threat in Jamie’s eyes, not yet understanding the significance of their meeting.

“Why did I ever follow ye?” Jamie hissed. “You, who’s used me from the start. You never even cared for me!”

“Jamie, whatever the creature told you, it’s not true,” the Doctor begged.

“Oh, isn’t it?” The Doctor shrank back in fear. He knew that edge in Jamie’s voice, knew that it meant that Jamie was truly, terrifyingly, ruthlessly _angry_. He wished he did not know, wished that the fury came from someone, anyone else. “There ye are, lying to me again, trying to get me back on your side. Well, it willnae work this time.”

“Jamie, please.” The Doctor’s voice shook as he backed away. “You have to believe me!”

“I gave up everything for ye.” Jamie’s eyes were wild with grief. “My family, my friends, my home. And look where it got me.”

“Please.” The Doctor was backed up against the wall. Jamie would slit his throat before he could escape, and then be killed by the force of the regeneration energy. He could try and force his way out, but the Doctor knew that he would never be able to bring himself to hurt Jamie. Not like this. “Jamie, don’t. It’s not like this. It’s not meant to be like this. No, please...” He slid a little further down the wall, looking up at Jamie like a lost child. “Don’t do this, please. I love you.”

“You’re lying.” Jamie’s voice was uneven now, some of the coldness leaving it, but his grip on the knife never faltered. “Ye dinnae care about anyone but yourself.”

“That’s not true.” The Doctor was truly desperate now, pleading for his life, seeing a glimmer of hope in the doubt flickering in Jamie’s eyes. “You know that, Jamie. You know that better than almost anyone. Didn’t I come back for you?” Jamie paused at that, the knife stilling in its gradual movement closer and closer to his throat. “I missed you so much, and I came back for you, because I care about you. And you care about me, too – the real you, not like this. I know you remember that. Somewhere deep down, you have to remember.”

“I don’t care about that.” The hard edge was back in Jamie’s voice again, and he pressed the tip of the knife against the Doctor’s skin.

“Oh, Jamie, don’t do this.” The Doctor reached out towards him tentatively. “Please. I love you, you know I do, and I know you love me too.” He would only have one chance, he thought. Moving his arm up slowly, he paused for a moment, then shoved the knife away as fast as he could, knocking Jamie off balance. The blade went clattering across the metal floor. 

Stepping forward, the Doctor wrapped his arms around Jamie as tightly as he could. Jamie struggled for a moment, then froze, as if the battle between the instinct to hold onto the Doctor in return and the creature’s programming had caused his brain to short-circuit. The Doctor tried to project all the feelings of safety and love and warmth he could muster towards Jamie, but something was stopping him. The gentle, familiar hum of Jamie’s thoughts was completely absent, blocked by a dark, whirling, violent shield, reflecting all his efforts at breaking it down.

“Come back to me,” he whispered, hoping that somewhere behind the control, Jamie could hear him. It was a long shot, he knew, but he had to try. “Please, Jamie.”

He did not realise at first that Jamie had moved, was embracing him so tightly it almost hurt. He pulled back, and saw that Jamie was still watching him – but this time with enough love to chase away the haunting memory of hatred.

“Oh,” was all the Doctor could manage. He leant forward once again, still shaking, burying his face in the crook of Jamie’s neck as if to hide from the world in his relief. Jamie made a quiet noise, and the Doctor moved away slightly to see the raw terror in his expression. Suddenly seeming exhausted, Jamie sank to he floor, and the Doctor knew that the last of the creature’s influence had left him. When he sat down beside him, Jamie practically fell against his chest in relief.

“It was – it was like I was burning,” he murmured. The Doctor drew him nearer until Jamie was practically in his lap, stroking his hair tenderly, bending down to press kisses to the top of his head. “I couldnae see what I was doing, couldnae see anything, just you. I thought I’d go mad with that thing in my mind. I was screaming tae get it out, and then I could feel ye there, not just see ye, and -” He broke off with a great, shuddering, painful sob.

“It’s alright,” the Doctor soothed him, the consolation feeling almost useless in the face of what had just transpired. “You’re safe now.”

Before he could say anything else, Jamie sat up and kissed him, and kissed him and kissed him and kissed him, like it had been years instead of a little over an hour, lips soft and gentle against his own. The Doctor let out a happy murmur and kissed back enthusiastically, wrapping his arms around Jamie’s waist, letting the tension fall from his shoulders. If Jamie had not been in his lap before, he certainly was now, hands running through the Doctor’s hair. Closing his eyes, the Doctor slid one hand under Jamie’s shirt, just a little way, just enough to boost their psychic connection. He had never been talented at this, but familiarity bred ease, and he felt the waves of Jamie’s relief wash over him, sending safety and gentleness and all of his adoration in return. Jamie’s mind was still bruised, rough around the edges from the creature’s control, and as they drew apart slowly, almost regretfully, the Doctor moved his hands up to cup Jamie’s face, not wanting to break the link just yet.

“I still dinnae understand what happened, though,” Jamie said, leaning forward to rest his forehead against the Doctor’s. “They’d just got on the ship – they’ll be away by now – and I was heading back to find ye. I thought ye might be in trouble.” The Doctor let out a little snort of laughter at this. “Well, ye usually are! And then it all went dark. I remember talking to ye, but… What happened?”

“Some things are stronger than hate, Jamie,” the Doctor said softly.

“Oh.” Jamie was silent for a moment. “I still dinnae get it.”

“The creature’s universe doesn’t work in the same way ours does, Jamie. It couldn’t grasp the concept of, ah, certain adaptive advantages – that is, some emotions. You see, it hadn’t factored in quite how much we -”

“I see,” Jamie interrupted, cutting short the Doctor’s halting explanations with a grin. “It didnae understand that I’m in love with ye.”

“Well, er – yes,” the Doctor all but squeaked, and Jamie smiled wider. To hear Jamie stating it so plainly still caught him off guard, even after all this time. “That was a good bit stronger than its influence over you, you see, and -” He fell silent as Jamie leant forwards to hug him again.

“I love ye too,” Jamie mumbled, his voice muffled against the Doctor’s shoulder. “I heard that much, at least.” He paused for a moment. “Thank ye.”

“What for?”

“For – for saving me. For not giving up on me.” They were quiet for a moment, simply holding each other. “Should we no’ go and deal with the beastie now?”

“Oh! Yes. Yes, we should. I think it used quite a bit of its strength on controlling you, and now that we’ve destroyed it’s influence – well, it should be easy enough to send it back.” The Doctor had quite forgotten about the great menace ensconced in the space station. “But not yet. There’s plenty of time.”

“Aye, there is,” Jamie agreed, tightening his hold on the Doctor. “All the time in the world.”


End file.
